Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-11-18

his own party would be in regard to the
civil-service law, and this Is not as severe
as the one advocated In our platform OF
1876"
500 you think the law has been sue
cess?"
81 ana not prepared to say. There GER
tainly should be some changes in it.
There should be no forty-fve yesrs lin
its to the departments, and all eligible ap-
plicants should be presented to the de-
partm ants?"
Will you have any amendments to pro-
pose to the Interstate commerce laW?"
81 do not know. The law will undoubt.
edly be changed, and the subject will
continue to be legislated upon until max
imum freight and passenger rates are
fixed by law. do not think the action
of the present commission as to the long
and short haul clause has amounted to
much, but it has been valuable as 8 COL
lector of statistics and Of information
about the railroads. II may be that we
will at some time regulate the telegraph
rates of the United States in the same
way, and think that the passage OF such
law would be much better than the tax
ing Of the telegraph into the hands of the
government. The day will have to come
when the prices of kilograms and the rates
of both passenger and freight traffic will
be fixed by Congress-"
Speaking Of the Interstate commerce
law, its author was Senator Cullom of
Illinois, and 1t was due to his bulldog
pertinacity that its passage was secured
Mr.. Cullom says that the ONLY method of
getting bill of this kind through Con-
gress is to hang to it as dog does to 8
bone, and he now proposes to push the
postal telegraph with the same energy
that he devoted last session TO inter-
state commerce. He says: "The inter
state commerce law has come to stay.
The people will never consent to it's being
blotted out. II we repeal the law they
would think that Congress was given
over to the corporations, and am sure
that the working of the law has been for
the general good of the country. It may
have hurt certain localities, such as the
Pacific coast, but it certainly has bene-
fled the remainder Of the United States,
and it will, I doubt not, be so amended
that it will work to the good of the whole
country"
"The passage of the Interstate COM
meIce BILL" Senator Cullom went or,
WhS o sui pllSC W lnO 1dl11ObNDs Il AS
subject hsd been before Congress for 8
long time, but nothing had been done,
and the big railroad corporations appre-
hended no Danger. l had learned the
need of an inter state commerce law
while was Governor Of Illinois. We had
railroad commission, and l recon-
mended to them numerous changes IN the
railroad regulations of the state. Upon
attempting to put these IN operation we
! found we were hampered in nearly every
| instance by constitutional limitations,
and the commission could do nothing be-
cause of these. | then determined that
if l got back to Congress 1 would do all
in my power to pass an interstate com
merce bill. l introduced one during my first
year in the Senate, and succeeded in pass
! ing it there. It failed however in the
| House, but it aroused sc much interest II
| the Senate that Senator Allison and others
advised me to move q resolution OF in
quiry into the subja l felt backward
about it, and said that l did not like
during my first year in the Senate, to offel
8 resolution which would open place TO.
me; for l knew should be put upon th'
committee of inquiry if offered the reso
| luton. | was overpersuaded however
and think Allison wrote out the resoIu
ton. The committee was appointed, snt
we travelled over the country taking tes-
timony upon the subject. was sur,
prised to fad that the railroad mel
summed the committee and thst w
could not get them before US ex
cept by subpoena. They evidentl.
thought it was demagouery, that W.
were not in earnest, and tbat we Were
simply trying to make political capita
for ourselves. As q result of these in
vestigations we reported the bill which
passed the Senate. The Reagan bill
passed the House and q committee OF con
ference was appointed. At this time the
railroad men began to wake up. They
showered kilograms in upon US, asking
why they had not had chance to bt
heard and what We meant by crowdine
legislation so important as this through
Congress. They did not reflect that thel
had had year and half to think oveI
the matter, and that they had not re
sponded to our request for information
FRANK G. CARPENTER.